Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Purposefulness (Purpose in Life) (05/25/06)
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TITLE: Finally - A Purpose | Previous Challenge Entry
By Amy Puckett
05/30/06 -
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When I graduated from high school I had been accepted to every college that I had applied to for admission. I had applied to several schools because I couldn’t make up my mind. On some applications I listed my major as pre-med, others pre-law, on some I said that I wanted to study French, and on a few applications, I even planned to be an aerospace engineer! Then, because I answered a phone call from a determined recruiter who did have a purpose, I ended up joining the Army where I became a Military Police officer. I had no purpose.
A year later, while sitting in my room at the barracks, smoking cigarettes and watching a soap opera, I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and met another man with a purpose, and I ended up marrying him. I vividly remember sitting in the hall outside the judge’s office on the day we married. As I inspected the freshly waxed linoleum floor and listened to the clicking of a keyboard in the next room I thought to myself, “This is a mistake. This seems wrong… But I hate to tell him no. Oh well, I guess I can always get a divorce later.” And of course, divorce is what happened. I still had no purpose.
By this time in my life, I was starting to realize that I had no direction. I was going through life like the ball in a pinball machine. I felt that I was being shot back and forth, darting through life and crashing into things over and over and over. I never knew what was going to happen next. Then one day I saw a serene painting of a mother holding a child and looking peacefully out a window. Below the picture were the words “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). Oh, the peace that blanketed me when I read those words! God had a purpose for me!
I began to pray. I searched the scriptures. I started going to church regularly. I began to apply the things that I learned and I welcomed God into my heart. I accepted the fantastic gift that I had been given when Jesus died to pay for my sins.
And then something else happened. For the first time in my I had goals. I had dreams. I was surprised to notice that I was making sensible plans and actually following through. For the first time in my life, while I didn’t know every detail of the journey, I did know where I was headed, and I looked forward to discovering the plans God had for me. Now I am eager to experience the hope and the future. Finally, I have purpose.
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I like how you contrasted your narrator's lack of purpose with the recruiter, who had purpose, and the husband-to-be. You know how to write a good story---God bless your talent!